The present invention relates to a fibers suitable for use as hairs of a doll, and more particularly to a synthetic fiber suitable for use as hairs of a doll, consisting essentially of an acrylic polymer comprising 30 to 80% by weight of an acrylonitrile and 70 to 20% by weight of at least one vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride. The synthetic fiber suitable for use as doll's hairs of the present invention has an excellent flame resistance, is not sticky but natural in touch like human hairs, is not shiny, the too shiny luster being synthetic fibers' own, but has a natural and quiet luster like human hairs, has an excellent curl retention, therefore the hairstyle can stay for a long time, and has a remarkably improved bulkiness. That is, the synthetic fiber of the invention is very close to human hairs in the touch, the appearance, and the like.
Generally, fibers suitable for use as hairs of a doll (hereinafter referred to as "fibers for doll's hairs") are continuously rooted in a head of a doll made of a vinyl chloride by using a rooting machine. As the fibers for doll's hairs, only a multifilament having a fineness of 200 to 2,000 deniers can be used in the state of a curled yarn or a straight yarn, since the fibers for doll's are rooted on the doll's head in the limited conditions as mentioned above.
Hitherto, synthetic fibers such as vinylidene chloride fibers, vinyl chloride fibers, nylon fibers and polypropylene fibers have been used as the fibers for doll's hair.
These synthetic fibers can be produced, as known, as multifilaments according to a melt-extrusion spinning or a melt spinning, and the obtained multifilaments are winded to a spool. All of the synthetic fibers for doll's hairs are produced by the melt-extrusion spinning or the melt spinning since the multifilaments can be easily produced according to the above-mentioned spinnings. However, the thus obtained multifilaments have various defects as the fiber for the doll's hairs, as mentioned below, because the fibers are produced according to the melt-extrusion or melt spinning through a nozzle with orifices having a round shape.
FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b are scanning electron microphotographs (five hundreds magnifications). FIG. 2a shows a cross-sectional shape of a conventional fiber for doll's hairs and FIG. 2 shows a side shape of the conventional fiber.
As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the conventional fibers for the doll's hairs are round in the shape of their cross section, and are very smooth in their surface, which is characteristic in fibers produced by the melt spinning. Also, the fibers for the doll's hairs do not vary in the cross-sectional shape and the surface with kinds of used polymers, as shown in Table 1 mentioned below.
Recently, the diversification of the qualities in the fibers for the doll's hairs have been required in the same level as in hair wigs. That is, not only straight fibers but also curled fibers with various sizes in a curl are rooted in the heads of the dolls. Also, the hairstyles of dolls have been variously designed.
Accordingly, it is required to improve the properties of the fiber for doll's hairs, such as the touch, curl retention, bulkiness and luster.
Further, in recent years, in the toy industry, the flame resistance of the fibers for the doll's hairs is required in order to more improve the safety.
However, in spite that there are the above-mentioned requirments, with the diversification of the hairstyles of dolls, the fact is that the fiber for doll's hairs has been hardly improved in its properties.
The known fibers for doll's hairs are poor in the bulkiness and therefore the surface of the doll's head is easily seen, because the fibers are easily stuck together to form a closed-packed state and become in a state such as teeth of a comb owing to the round cross-sectional shape and the smooth surface in the fibers. Also, since the fibers have no scales on the surface unlike the human hairs and are very smooth in the surface, the fibers are far from the natural hairs in the touch. For instance, they are sticky or the greasy touch is strongly felt when touching the fibers with hands. Also, the fibers are too shiny, which is the synthetic fibers' own, since in the fibers light is reflected only in one direction. In addition, since the fibers are insufficient in the curl retention and low in the bulkiness, it is necessary to increase the amount of the fibers to be rooted on the doll's head.
The properties of the conventional fibers for doll's hairs are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Specific Cross- Flame Curl gravity sectional shape resistance Touch retention Bulkiness Luster __________________________________________________________________________ Vinylidene 1.70 Round .largecircle.*.sup.1 X X X X chloride fiber Vinyl 1.39 Round .largecircle. X .DELTA.*.sup.2 X X chloride fiber Nylon fiber 1.14 Round X*.sup.3 X X X X Polypropylene 0.91 Round X X .DELTA. .largecircle. X fiber __________________________________________________________________________ (Notes) *.sup.1 .largecircle.: Excellent *.sup.2 .DELTA.: A little poor *.sup.3 X: Poor
The vinylidene chloride fibers and the vinyl chloride fibers have been widely used because of their excellent flame resistance. However, the vinylidene chloride fibers are the highest in the specific gravity and are poor in the resilience, therefore, the fibers are poor in the curl retention. Also, the vinylidene chloride fibers are one of the fibers having the lowest bulkiness among the fibers for doll's hairs. On the other hand, the vinyl chloride fibers are a little better than the vinylidene chloride fibers in the curl retention and bulkiness, but their properties are still unsatisfactory as the fibers for the doll's hairs.
Since these two fibers are high in the chlorine content, their specific gravities are higher than those of other fibers, resulting in lowering the bulkiness thereof.
The nylon fibers have a defect such that the curled fibers are easily straightened with moisture. The polypropylene fibers are low in the specific gravity and excellent in the bulkiness, but they are poor in the flame resistance, as well known. The nylon fibers are also poor in the flame resistance.
As mentioned above, the conventional fibers for the doll's hairs have the various defects, though there are some differences in properties depending on the kinds of the polymers, such that they are sticky, the greasy touch is strongly felt, they are too shiny, they are insufficient in the curl retention and it is necessary to increase the amount of the fibers to be rooted on the doll's head because the fibers tend to stick together to form a state such as teath of a comb and are low in the bulkiness, therefore, the surface of the doll's head is easily seen. The above-mentioned defects of the conventional fibers for the doll's hairs have not been improved at all though the hairstyles of the dolls have been diversified and it has been strongly desired to improve the properties of the fibers for the doll's hairs from the market.
An object of the present invention is to provide fibers for doll's hairs with no defects aforementioned, which have the excellent flame resistance, the natural touch with no stickiness, the natural and quiet luster, the excellent curl retention, the excellent property for staying the hairstyle and the remarkably improved bulkiness, and therefore which are very close to natural human hairs.
The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description hereinafter.